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Ashraf Ghani’s blame game continues: What are Pakistan’s options?
Global Village Space |
Imtiaz Gul |
Ashraf Ghani’s charged Pakistan-focused speech before the Kabul Process Summit on June 6 in the presence of a Pakistani delegation left quite a few foreign delegates wondering as to what the embattled president was up to.
His accusatory finger at Pakistan for the “undeclared war of aggression” on Afghanistan came across as pretty mind-boggling because, going by his assertion, he should have mentioned Turkey, Iran, China, and Russia who are all on the same page as far as Taliban and Daesh are concerned.
Pakistan’s Afghan policy requires both the military and civilian prongs to work in tandem, something urgently needed to create national and international buy-in of what Pakistan does vis-a-vis Afghanistan.
Ghani singled out Pakistan despite the fact that his own foreign minister and head of the Jamiat-e Islami, Salahuddin Rabbani, not only stayed away from the international conference but also demanded an investigation into recent deadly attacks and the dismissal of National Security Adviser (NSA) Hanif Atmar.
Read more: Kabul Process: Afghanistan’s refusing to admit the buck stops home
As the tug-of-war among major stakeholders in Kabul continues, with most of them making Pakistan a scapegoat for their country’s ills, this alarming situation places unusual responsibility on the power wielders in Islamabad.
The unabated security and political crisis in Afghanistan represent multiple challenges and require a synergy of thought and action between the prime minister’s office and the General Headquarters (GHQ) because the external jockeying for geopolitical influence is not only muddying but also complicating the Afghan situation.
Pakistan’s Afghan policy requires both the military and civilian prongs to work in tandem, something urgently needed to create national and international buy-in of what Pakistan does vis-a-vis Afghanistan.
Relatively muted responses to the latest string of allegations by Kabul’s security establishment also highlight the civilian government’s paralysis on the foreign policy front.
Playing up its counter-terrorism efforts, Pakistan needs to convincingly convey to the world that neither it has any favorites in Afghanistan nor does it rely on any proxies.
Secondly, blunting and disproving foreign accusations is the job of the government and not the military, which stands out as a suspect anyway (in the eyes of Afghans and Indians). Staying mum or issuing routine denials or condemnations help little.
Why should such statements flow out of the GHQ only? Why can’t the civilian government reiterate its offer of support in counter-terrorism to Afghanistan and also take the bull by the horn in case of slander and misplaced accusations from across the border?
Read more: Threats to regional peace: The implications of a disrupted Afghanistan
Thirdly, the government needs to embark on a diplomatic offensive to convey to the world at large that it is committed to its support to Afghanistan and that the Afghan security forces needed unconditional and continued support. Only their institutional strength can lend the Kabul government the means to pursue reconciliation with authority, officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General Headquarters (GHQ) say.
Read full article:
Ashraf Ghani’s blame game continues: What are Pakistan’s options?
Global Village Space |
Imtiaz Gul |
Ashraf Ghani’s charged Pakistan-focused speech before the Kabul Process Summit on June 6 in the presence of a Pakistani delegation left quite a few foreign delegates wondering as to what the embattled president was up to.
His accusatory finger at Pakistan for the “undeclared war of aggression” on Afghanistan came across as pretty mind-boggling because, going by his assertion, he should have mentioned Turkey, Iran, China, and Russia who are all on the same page as far as Taliban and Daesh are concerned.
Pakistan’s Afghan policy requires both the military and civilian prongs to work in tandem, something urgently needed to create national and international buy-in of what Pakistan does vis-a-vis Afghanistan.
Ghani singled out Pakistan despite the fact that his own foreign minister and head of the Jamiat-e Islami, Salahuddin Rabbani, not only stayed away from the international conference but also demanded an investigation into recent deadly attacks and the dismissal of National Security Adviser (NSA) Hanif Atmar.
Read more: Kabul Process: Afghanistan’s refusing to admit the buck stops home
As the tug-of-war among major stakeholders in Kabul continues, with most of them making Pakistan a scapegoat for their country’s ills, this alarming situation places unusual responsibility on the power wielders in Islamabad.
The unabated security and political crisis in Afghanistan represent multiple challenges and require a synergy of thought and action between the prime minister’s office and the General Headquarters (GHQ) because the external jockeying for geopolitical influence is not only muddying but also complicating the Afghan situation.
Pakistan’s Afghan policy requires both the military and civilian prongs to work in tandem, something urgently needed to create national and international buy-in of what Pakistan does vis-a-vis Afghanistan.
Relatively muted responses to the latest string of allegations by Kabul’s security establishment also highlight the civilian government’s paralysis on the foreign policy front.
Playing up its counter-terrorism efforts, Pakistan needs to convincingly convey to the world that neither it has any favorites in Afghanistan nor does it rely on any proxies.
Secondly, blunting and disproving foreign accusations is the job of the government and not the military, which stands out as a suspect anyway (in the eyes of Afghans and Indians). Staying mum or issuing routine denials or condemnations help little.
Why should such statements flow out of the GHQ only? Why can’t the civilian government reiterate its offer of support in counter-terrorism to Afghanistan and also take the bull by the horn in case of slander and misplaced accusations from across the border?
Read more: Threats to regional peace: The implications of a disrupted Afghanistan
Thirdly, the government needs to embark on a diplomatic offensive to convey to the world at large that it is committed to its support to Afghanistan and that the Afghan security forces needed unconditional and continued support. Only their institutional strength can lend the Kabul government the means to pursue reconciliation with authority, officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General Headquarters (GHQ) say.
Read full article:
Ashraf Ghani’s blame game continues: What are Pakistan’s options?
